|
|
 |
Since 2008, the National Science Essay Contest has taken place in two languages: Spanish and English (also, see rules in Spanish). As a result of this, 12 young people will be awarded a prize (6 in Spanish and 6 in English), and all winning essays will appear on the CIENTEC web site, as inspiration for future participants.
INVITATION
The contest invites high school students to be creative and express their perspectives and opinions regarding the 2009 topic:
COMMUNITY, INNOVATION, AND RIGHTS ON THE WEB
The Internet has transformed the lives of people, interconnecting them and giving them access to information, videos, and more. It fosters creativity and collaborative work in the development of new products, but often creates a conflict between easy access and the rights of authors. Some groups, like Creative Commons, have initiated a global movement to address this problem.
BACKGROUND
The contest started in 1999 as a CIENTEC initiative and with the cooperation of public and private sectors. Since then, ten annual programs have been completed successfully and 53 students and their essays have received awards. These essays are published online, where they receive hundreds of weekly visits.
The previous topics include: communication (2008) nature (2007), chemistry (2006), physics (2005), future occupations (2004), Internet and development (2003), innovation (2002), energy (2001), water (2000), and vocational expectations (1999).
OBJECTIVES
- To offer a means to strengthen young people’s identity through the transmission of their opinions, concerns and future visions.
- To strengthen interest and research in the fields of science and technology.
- To promote creativity, written production, and the parallel learning of Spanish and English.
- To expand the knowledge of major emerging areas in basic sciences, experimental sciences (health, environment, industry, agriculture, and others), and technology.
- To inspire the vocational and technological sciences among students who are about to choose a career or occupation.
1. PARTICIPANTS
The contest is open to all high school students ages 13–18 years old (as of September 15th, 2009).
2. TWO CATEGORIES
High school students will be evaluated in two separate categories, based on age groups:
a) 13 a 15 years old.
b) 16 a 18 years old.
3. TOPIC
Each entry must address the following topic:
COMMUNITY, INNOVATION, AND RIGHTS ON THE WEB
4. ESSAY
- It must be original (submission from the author), unpublished and in English.
- The essay must not be shorter than 400 words and no longer than 500 words. All words count, including articles, prepositions and conjunctions. (Please supply the word count on the essay)
- The title of the essay should read: COMMUNITY, INNOVATION, AND RIGHTS ON THE WEB
- At the end of the essay, the following affidavit must be included:
“I declare under oath that this essay is original and has not entered any previous contest.”
5. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaCxigjUJ7Q (video)
http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/
http://www1.aucegypt.edu/academic/writers/
Plagiarism:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/
-
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
On the subject:
- CEDUCAR+CC (images, music, freeware, and more)
-
- Creative Commons
-
- Science Commons
To receive more information:
- Consider subscribing to the electronic newsletter (optional)
6. HOW TO SUBMIT THE ESSAY
- Only electronic writings will be admitted. Essays must be sent between August 15th and September 15th, 2009. The essays, along with personal information, must be sent as an attachment to cientec@cientec.or.cr. The subject line of the email must read, “essay contest”. All text must be double spaced, font Arial 12 , without any animations or attached images.
- Entry Deadline: The deadline for entries is September 15th, 2009. Entries received after that date will not be accepted.
7. JURY
The jury will be formed by at least five people, appointed by the organizing committee. It will abide by the rules in this manual. Its decisions are final and cannot be appealed.
8. GENERAL EVALUATION CRITERIA
The following aspects will be considered in the evaluation:
- Topic relevance
- Creativity
- Wealth of ideas
- Clarity of message
- Essay structure (unity, coherence, topic sentence, conclusion); vocabulary (precision, variety, appropriateness), punctuation and spelling. Structure will be evaluated based on clarity of ideas.
9. AUTHORING AND PLAGIARISM
- All essays received will become the property of CIENTEC Foundation, which reserves the right to use them in informative activities, always mentioning the name of the author(s).
- If an essay is proven to have been plagiarized or to have been entered in another contest, it will be disqualified immediately, and authoring law #6683 will be applied in full. More information at www.cientec.or.cr/concurso2/derechos.html
10. TIMELINE
Promotion and educational activities: June through August.
Submission of essays ONLY VIA EMAIL: August 15th through September 15th, 2009.
Award ceremony: October, 2008
11. PRIZES
Prizes will be awarded to the best three essays in each of the categories (13-15 years old, 16-18 years old)
1st PLACE: a digital camera, electronic publication of the essay, annual membership to CIENTEC.
2nd PLACE: a flash drive, electronic publication of the essay, annual membership to CIENTEC.
3rd PLACE: a canopy tour for 3 people, electronic publication of the essay, annual membership to CIENTEC.
12. ORGANIZERS
-
MEP — Lic. Luis Fernando Vega García y Lic. Geovanni Obando
-
MICIT — Lic. Mauricio Corrales Escalante
-
UCR — Alice Pérez, Ph. D., Vicerrectoría Investigación
-
UNA — MBA Carmen Monge Hernández, Dirección de Extensión, Vicerrectoría Académica
-
UNED — MBA Rosi Ulate, Escuela de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales
-
CONICIT — Lic.. Lorena Fernández, Centro de Registro e Información Científica y Tecnológica
-
Fundación CIENTEC — Sra. Alejandra León Castellá, Directora Ejecutiva
SPONSORS
This program is endorsed by the Fondo de Incentivos, Ley de Promoción del Desarrollo
Científico y Tecnológico #7169
Failure to follow any of these rules may lead to disqualification from the contest.
|
|
